Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has had discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on steps to maintain the security of domestic wood supply for future house building.

The UK imports c.80% of our timber. Imports will continue to play an important role in future timber supply, but the government wants to reduce them and there is an opportunity for domestic forestry and wood processing sectors to grow and thrive as a result. The proportion of softwood-producing woodland in England has risen to 10% of those planted over the last four years. We want to increase this to at least 30% and bring more hardwoods to market through increased woodland management. The government launched a Timber in Construction Roadmap on 27 February 2025. Increasing domestic timber supply is one of the key themes and the roadmap sets out actions that government and industry has committed to.